The embodiments discussed herein relate to a peristaltic pump.
Peristaltic pumps are typically used in medical applications for metering intravenous infusion of a medication into a patient. Peristaltic pumps may also be used for withdrawing fluid such as in wound drainage procedures. To this end, various linear and curvilinear peristaltic pumps have been introduced into the market place.
For example, the curvilinear peristaltic pump described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,921 (hereinafter '921 patent) was introduced into the marketplace. The entire contents of the '921 patent is expressly incorporated herein by reference. The first named inventor of the '921 patent is the inventor of the device described below in the detailed description section. As shown in FIG. 7 of the '921 patent, a flexible tubing is inserted between a plurality of fingers and a platen. The fingers are arranged in a curved pattern. Also, the bottom surface of the platen which work in conjunction with the fingers is also curved and matched to the curvature of the plurality of fingers. As the cam rotates, the lobes of the cam push the fingers into the tube disposed between the fingers and the bottom surface of the platen in a rolling manner to urge fluid through the tube.
Unfortunately, the peristaltic pump disclosed in the '921 patent has certain limitations. To operate the pump, the tube is installed between the platen and the fingers of the pump by opening the platen, fitting a locator pin and a shut off valve into recesses formed in a body of the pump and closing the platen. In doing so, it is difficult to fit the locator pin and the shut off valve into the recesses due to the curved configuration of the fingers and the curved bottom surface of the platen. Moreover, the tube is typically installed on the pump when the pump is hung on a stand next to a patient. However, the pump is top heavy causing the pump to be unstable and shift during installation of the tube.
Another limitation of the device disclosed in the '921 patent is that the flow rate through the pump is low fluid in the range of 600 mL. The flow rate of the pump is dependent on a variety of factors such as cycle speed of the fingers, the size of the tube, etc. To increase the fluid flow rate through the pump, these factors must be improved by increasing the cyclical speed of the fingers, increasing the size of the tube, etc. Unfortunately, to do so, the size of the motor must be enlarged to handle the increased load. The pump disclosed in the '921 patent is relatively heavy. Enlarging the motor would undesirably increase the weight of the pump and may cause further instability.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved peristaltic pump.